This invention relates to a connector comprising a plurality of contact members and, in particular, to a connector in which contacting portions and terminal portions of contacts are different in arrangement from each other.
A typical connector comprises an insulator and a plurality of contact members held by the insulator. Each of the contact members has a contacting portion to be connected to a mating contact and a terminal portion to be connected to a board as a connection object. The terminal portion is connected to the board, for example, by soldering the terminal portion to the board or by inserting the terminal portion into a through hole formed in the board. In this connection, the terminal portions are desired to have a large pitch as compared with the contacting portions.
Various techniques for pitch conversion of the terminal portions of the contacts are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications (JP-A) Nos. H8-162187, 2002-151187, and 2002-334748. These techniques are effective in a connector in which contacting portions of contacts are arranged in a grid-like pattern. However, in case where the contacting portions are arranged in two rows and shifted by a half pitch between the two rows, i.e., in case where the contacting portions are arranged in a staggered pattern, no merit is achieved by these techniques.